Malda librarian’s ‘treasure trove’ has bird nests, pens, & lot more

malda: Subir Kumar Saha, a librarian by profession, has taken the art of collecting things to the ‘nest’ level. Fascinated by the concept of collecting rare and unique objects since childhood, librarian of Banibhavan Town Library in Old Malda block—Saha—now boats of owing a collection of 30 nests of birds and insects which showcase ‘excellence in engineering.’

The collector also aims to have a museum named after him. Besides, he also has a huge collection of pens, coins, currency, stamps and lamps. Driven to collect coins from his childhood, Saha later started collecting a number of things. He is now planning to add a collection of handheld fans to his treasure trove.

Talking to Millennium Post, Subir Kumar Saha, stated: “From early childhood I felt an urge to collect things. I started with collecting coins. The passion for collecting things intensified as I grew up. The nests of some birds and insects to me are excellent pieces of engineering like that of Baya weavers, sparrows, hornets, bees, honey bees and many more. So far, I have collected about thirty and have plans to add more to my collection.”

As for bird nests, Saha has collected four types of Baya weavers nests. There are hornet’s nests of different types. Even nests of different types of ants are part of his collection.

Saha added that he now has an inclination towards collecting things from yesteryears like handheld fans and kerosene lamps of different varieties. He already has more than fifty such fans made of bamboo, wood, date leaves, palm leaves, velvet, wool, cotton and straw. Among his 22 kerosene lamps, 6 are lanterns and 7 lamps are of different designs.

Saha also has over 1000 pens in his collection. He collects both fountain and ball pens. One can also find coins of almost every era from Sena age to Mughal period having coins of the time of Babar, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Sajahan and Aurangzeb. Further he also has currency of different nations like Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and others.

Saha even managed to collect newspapers of different languages of almost every state of India. Stamps of various types adorn his collection.